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"The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves." -- John Adams

"...no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." – Thomas Jefferson

Thursday, November 22, 2007

I give thanks for:

the kindergarten and first grade kids who learn about Thanksgiving for the first time and really get into being Pilgrims and Indians.

the parents who come to school to help with the Thanksgiving feasts and all the crafts associated with the holiday.

the kitchen staff who prepare several great Thanksgiving meals each year - one at school and one at their own homes.

the music teachers who teach the students the same songs year after year and never get tired of hearing the same songs over and over again, because they know that each voice is different.

the art teachers who have the students draw the same pictures and make the same crafts year after year and never get tired of seeing the same things over and over again, because they know that each view is different.

the librarians who read the same books year after year and never get tired of reading and hearing the same words over and over again because they know that each listener is different.

the children who hear the same things year after year, who make the same crafts year after year, and who sing the same songs year after year, and who are learning that thanksgiving is more than words, pictures, crafts and songs.

the teachers who are devoted to their students and provide the experiences needed for a well rounded education even though the world seems to want only test-takers.

teachers, parents, paras, librarians, custodians, secretaries, nurses, principals, cooks, bus drivers and everyone else who has given their life to serving the most important resource in our country - our children.

The undersigned education, civil rights, religious, children's, disability, civic, and labor organizations are committed to the No Child Left Behind Act's objectives of strong academic achievement for all children and closing the achievement gap. We believe that the federal government has a critical role to play in attaining these goals. We endorse the use of an accountability system that helps ensure all children, including children of color, from low-income families, with disabilities, and of limited English proficiency, are prepared to be successful, participating members of our democracy.

While we all have different positions on various aspects of the law, based on concerns raised during the implementation of NCLB, we believe the following significant, constructive corrections are among those necessary to make the Act fair and effective. Among these concerns are: over-emphasizing standardized testing, narrowing curriculum and instruction to focus on test preparation rather than richer academic learning; over-identifying schools in need of improvement; using sanctions that do not help improve schools; inappropriately excluding low-scoring children in order to boost test results; and inadequate funding. Overall, the law's emphasis needs to shift from applying sanctions for failing to raise test scores to holding states and localities accountable for making the systemic changes that improve student achievement.

Recommended Changes in NCLB

Progress Measurement

1. Replace the law's arbitrary proficiency targets with ambitious achievement targets based on rates of success actually achieved by the most effective public schools.

2. Allow states to measure progress by using students' growth in achievement as well as their performance in relation to pre-determined levels of academic proficiency.

3. Ensure that states and school districts regularly report to the government and the public their progress in implementing systemic changes to enhance educator, family, and community capacity to improve student learning.

4. Provide a comprehensive picture of students' and schools' performance by moving from an overwhelming reliance on standardized tests to using multiple indicators of student achievement in addition to these tests.

5. Fund research and development of more effective accountability systems that better meet the goal of high academic achievement for all children.

Assessments

6. Help states develop assessment systems that include district and school-based measures in order to provide better, more timely information about student learning.

8. Decrease the testing burden on states, schools and districts by allowing states to assess students annually in selected grades in elementary, middle schools, and high schools.

Building Capacity

9. Ensure changes in teacher and administrator preparation and continuing professional development that research evidence and experience indicate improve educational quality and student achievement.

10. Enhance state and local capacity to effectively implement the comprehensive changes required to increase the knowledge and skills of administrators, teachers, families, and communities to support high student achievement.

Sanctions

11. Ensure that improvement plans are allowed sufficient time to take hold before applying sanctions; sanctions should not be applied if they undermine existing effective reform efforts.

12. Replace sanctions that do not have a consistent record of success with interventions that enable schools to make changes that result in improved student achievement.

Funding

13. Raise authorized levels of NCLB funding to cover a substantial percentage of the costs that states and districts will incur to carry out these recommendations, and fully fund the law at those levels without reducing expenditures for other education programs.

14. Fully fund Title I to ensure that 100 percent of eligible children are served.

We, the undersigned, will work for the adoption of these recommendations as central structural changes needed to NCLB at the same time that we advance our individual organization's proposals.

Advancement ProjectThe American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) American Association of School Administrators American Association of School Personnel AdministratorsAmerican Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA) American Association of University Women American Baptist Women's MinistriesAmerican Civil Liberties Union American Counseling Association American Dance Therapy AssociationAmerican Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA) American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) American Federation of Teachers American Friends Service Committee American Humanist Association American Music Therapy AssociationAmerican Occupational Therapy Association American School Counselor Association American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Americans for the Arts Annenberg Institute for School Reform Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) ASPIRA Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) Association of Education Publishers Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) Assocation of Teacher Educators Big Picture Company Business and Professional Women/USA Center for Community Change Center for Expansion of Language and Thinking Center for Parent LeadershipThe Center for Policy Alternatives Change to Win Children's Aid Society Children's Defense Fund Church Women United Citizens for Effective Schools Coalition for Community Schools Coalition of Essential Schools Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism Communities for Quality Education COSN (Consortium for School Networking) Council of Administrators of Special Education, Inc. Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders Council for Exceptional Children Council for Hispanic Ministries of the United Church of Christ Council for Learning Disabilities Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform Disciples Home Missions of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Disciples Justice Action Network (Disciples of Christ) Division for Learning Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children (DLD/CEC) Education Action! Eduation Not Incarcertation Episcopal ChurchEvangelical Lutheran Church in America Every Child Matters FairTest: The National Center for Fair & Open Testing Forum for Education and DemocracyGay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GPAC)The Holmes Partnership Hmong National Development Indigenous Women's Network Institute for Language and Education Policy International Reading Association ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) International Technology Education Association Japanese American Citizens LeagueJobs with Justice Learning Disabilities Association of America League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Mental Health America Ministers for Racial, Social and Economic justice of the United Church or Christ National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF) National Alliance of Black School Educators National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education (NAAPAE) National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) National Association for the Education and Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese Americans (NAFEA) National Association for the Education of African American Children with Learning Disabilities (NAEAACLD) National Association of Federally Impacted Schools National Association of Pupil Service Administrators National Association of School Nurses National Association of School Psychologists National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) National Association of Social Workers National Baptist Convention, USA (NBCUSA) National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development National Coalition of ESEA Title I Parents National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) National Conference of Black Mayors National Council for the Social Studies National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) National Council of Churches National Council of Jewish Women National Council of Teachers of English National Education AssociationNational Education Taskforce National Federation of Filipino American Associations National Indian Education Association National Indian School Board Association National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) National Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA National Pacific Islander Educator Network National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) National Reading Conference National Rural Education Association National School Boards Association National School Supply and Equipment AssociationNational Science Teachers Association National Superintendents Roundtable National Urban League Native Hawaiian Education Association The Network of Spiritual Progressives Organization of Chinese Americans Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG National) Public Education Network (PEN) People for the American Way Presbyterian Church (USA) Progressive National Baptist Convention Protestants for the Common Good Rural School and Community Trust Service Employees International Union School Social Work Association of America Social Action Committee of the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) Stand for Children Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL) United Black Christians of the United Church of ChristUnited Church of Christ Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Concerns, TheUnited Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society USAction Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church Women of Reform Judaism

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Important Quotes

Recommendations for Business

Pick the business of anybody on the Gates Foundation board of directors. Pick any one. Now imagine me, a teacher, showing up at the CEO's office and saying, "Hey, some of us at my high school formed a study group and we've come up with some recommendations about how your business should be run. And if you don't want to listen to us, we'll call up our friends in DC and make you listen to us." – Peter Green in Curmudgucation: The Wrongest Sentence Ever in the CCSS Debate.

Support for Religion

When a Religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its Professors are oblig'd to call for the help of the Civil Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one. – Benjamin Franklin

The Answer Shouldn't Come First

"The problem with any ideology is it gives the answer before you look at the evidence, so you have to mold the evidence to get the answer that you've already decided you've got to have" -- Bill Clinton on the Daily Show, September 20, 2012.

You Didn't Devote Your Lives to Testing

"Don't label a school as failing one day and then throw your hands up and walk away from it the next. Don't tell us that the only way to teach a child is to spend too much of a year preparing him to fill out a few bubbles in a standardized test...You didn't devote your lives to testing. You devoted it to teaching, and teaching is what you should be allowed to do." -- Candidate Barack Obama, Summer 2007

Hypocrisy of "Leaders"

"...Teacher Appreciation Week. Politicians of every stripe and school superintendents everywhere will write letters and make proclamations stating how much they value the service and dedication of teachers everywhere. All of these words are empty and merely paying lip service to something they do not believe. By their actions, these ''leaders'' have made it obvious that they neither appreciate, admire, respect nor comprehend the jobs of the people who spend their days with the nation's children. Nor do they understand the first thing about the children in those classrooms." -- Corinne Driscoll, Syracuse, NY

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